I hadn't thought about circumcision before, and since every man I know (though I'm sure there are some I am unaware of) is circ'd, had my first child been a son, I probably wouldn't have known to object to it. It was coming across this board that changed my mind, and my ds is intact because of it. Anybody else have this experience?

My mom always said this. I was her first (this was 30 years ago), had i been a boy, she had thought nothing of circ really and probably would have done it. Her 3rd was a boy and she said that by that time she knew no way! In turn, my DS (my first) her grandson is intact too.

Yep! Not me, thankfully I did think of it in time for my first son, but my mom fell prey to it 17 years ago with my brother. I asked her, when my son was born and we decided not to circ, what she was thinking, and she said "Of all the things I knew to argue, that wasn't one of them!" And she argued a lot...she naturally birthed, breastfed extended, spaced vaccines out, questioned antibiotics for every illness, co-slept...but it did not occur to her to question circ.

Makes me wonder what I'm doing RIGHT NOW with my kids that I'll look back on and say "what was I thinking?" I'm guessing it'll be something dietary...

I grew up with a dad spewing horror stories about seamen in the navy having to be circ'd as adults because there was limited water on the ship and they were getting infections. My parents just don't understand, even though we were living with them when DS was born and, despite their insisting, demanding, and offering to pay for the plastic surgery, we kept him intact. I'm thankful for my outspoken, opinionated friend who opened my eyes about a lot of things (circ, vax, birth, extended breastfeeding, etc)

Yep... A friend of mine from my first online playgroup recommended that I come read this site, not for circ, but for other reasons (since I was already planning on breastfeeding, co-sleeping and wearing him before I even knew there was such a thing as attachment parenting) and started reading this forum and lo and behold, I researched the decision I didn't even really think about before. I just knew everyone in my family was circ'd and every male I had ever been with had been circ'd so I thought it was something I had to do. DH came home a few days later (before I even had the chance to give him all my info) and told me a story that his very mainstream ex told him (she works in a hospital and is still pro-circ for some reason) about a little boy being seriously hurt from a circ and needed reconstructive surgery. He told me he didn't want to do it to our son... I jumped up and hugged him and showed him all the research I had been compiling for HIM against it and well, my son's penis lived happily ever after... as does my nephews My sister and I believe we have successfully broke the chain in our families, thanks to this board. Yay!

Jeri, Natural lovin' Mama to Elijah (9.29.03), Eden (10.2.06), and a little one lost along the way (1/12)., Step-monster to Shelby (18) and Stephen (16). Celebrating 12 years together with my soul-mate, Eric. Hoping for a someday!

My sons are all intact, but I never gave circumcision any thought until I was pregnant with the first one and a friend who didn't have her son circumcised asked me about my plans. I was vaguely aware that all the boys/men I had ever known were circumcised and that men in other parts of the world might not be, but I literally never spent a minute thinking about what that procedure involved or why it was done or not done. Once I looked into it, it really horrified me to think that almost every male I knew had penile surgery when they were fresh out of the womb. Like, how could that be???

I've been informed about circumcision for at least 5 years, since I was in college. I've always known I would want to have a family, and I babysat a lot and have always loved kids. I had a LiveJournal and was in some communities, honestly I can't even remember what they were about, maybe knitting?? From there I became "friends" with some natural-minded mamas and was began reading about and becoming interested in normal birth, breastfeeding, natural family planning, cloth diapers, etc. I remember being so horrified when I learned how circumcision is performed and realized that it doesn't have health benefits to justify it. I'm sure that I read threads on Mothering during all my research and "investigations" although I can't recall any specific threads. When I found out I was having a son, I had absolutely no question - he would remain intact. It wasn't even an issue with my husband - I'm pretty sure I told him when we were still dating that I would never circumcise my son(s)! And once he learned how it's done and watched about 12 seconds of a video, he announced that no son of his would ever go through THAT. I do feel very fortunate that I found out all this information ahead of time and that my husband did not make it into a divisive issue.

Rebecca, 25 year old SAHM to Nicholas, born Feb. 2009. Doula, normal birth & breastfeeding advocate, intactalactivist. We cloth diaper and yes, he's still breastfeeding... Planning a in April 2011